Disclaimer: I do now own "The Nightmares Before Christmas" or "Coraline".
Betaed by: Zim'sMostLoyalServant and Trackula.
The Price
Chapter 4
About the Town?
In the blink of an eye, the world Coraline knew was gone. The road Jack had described had appeared, and next thing Coraline knew it was under her feet. The next moment the world was nowhere in sight, just the pale stone road leading through a starry night sky into a moon that had opened up, as if on a hinge.
"Whoa," Coraline said. Jack Skellington chuckled next to her and adjusted his bowtie.
"If you think this is something, I can't wait to see what you think of Halloween Town."
Jack started walking with those long silent steps of his, and after a moment Coraline rushed to keep up. She had seen the Beldam fall into a void and didn't want to risk this road vanishing if her guide left her behind. Her own steps were a lot more frantic-sounding, making metallic plinks on the stones underfoot. Glancing over at Jack, she ran her fingers over herself, feeling rather underdressed, in nothing at all.
She wanted her mind off that, so she looked around at stars that looked so close she wondered if you actually could touch them.
"So, we're really going to another world?"
"Indeed! It's so thrilling to be somewhere entirely new. …Circumstances aside, I do hope you are able to take some joy from this, young lady," Jack said, bending down to look her in the face without changing his pace.
"Uh, maybe. So, when do we arrive?" Coraline asked.
"When? Why, we are already there!" Jack proclaimed and stood up, flinging his arms wide dramatically. Coraline gasped, looking around to see the starry sky was gone, and they now stood on a hilltop overlooking an expanse of hills that came to narrow points that curled in on themselves. In the distance, she could see mountains veiled in dark clouds and mist-shrouded forests under the moonlight. And her eyes were drawn by Jack's hands to a cluster of lights beside a lake.
"Welcome to a place from dream, this our land of Halloween!" the Pumpkin King proclaimed with a smile.
X X X
Coraline followed close by Jack, who seemed to not notice her wariness as the misty night coiled about them as he led them down a trail toward the town. Coraline was sure stuff was moving nearby that wasn't fog. But whatever it was, barely unseen eyes of different colors and size seemed to draw close, only to then retreat. She did not notice it was the sight of Jack that turned their curiosity into bashful retreat.
Jack, for his part, was talking.
"Now, the realm of Halloween is too big to be small, but not so big as to be unknown to those who live here. If you know where you are going, you can get most anywhere by a day or night's travel, by foot or other matters. But if you're not sure where you are going, it can take quite a bit longer. Halloween Town holds the majority of our people, but not all. Some horrors prefer more solitude. Other types of monsters and such like to band together in their own space for whatever reason. But we all come together for Halloween, as is proper. Now, as you were human, you might assume daytime is when to be active, but it's inverted here. Nighttime is when the town really shambles to life! But there's an active day life in town, sometimes it's better for work as the noise and such is much reduced."
Coraline was only listening with half an ear as they crested another hill, and there was the town, now laid out before them. Hadn't it been further away just a second ago?
It stood on a hill like a demented crown. Most of the buildings looked to be stone, though a few were of twisted house variety. No two looked alike save they had the look of leaning twisted or somewhat ruined to them. That applied to the cobblestone streets she could see too; no straight lines, just twisting quickly lost in the mass.
Any doubts to its identity were dispelled as they stepped onto the cobblestone road leading to the town through a Jack O'Lantern patch; a menacing scarecrow hung on a signpost underneath a sign that declared this Halloween Town. As they passed it, a wind blew past, making the pumpkin-headed dummy pivot as if pointing the way.
Naturally for her guide, this didn't even warrant a second glance. She idly wondered if people here would find Mr. B less weird than back home.
"So, I was thinking you would stay with me and my family for the time being, until things are sorted out," Jack said, jogging Coraline from her thoughts.
"You have a family?" Coraline asked.
"Yes indeed I do. My wife is one of the smartest people I know, and the most sensible, and we have a trio of well-polished skele-kids. My house is across town, though. Hmm, would you like to go around and play this low key for now, or straight through and to introductions?" Jack asked.
"You're sure no one would freak out seeing me?" Coraline asked.
"Of course not. While you resemble the Beldam, to those who remember you clearly aren't her," Jack said. The fact it didn't seem to occur to Jack to account for the freaky factor was oddly reassuring. Still, as Jack took a step down the road into town, Coraline found herself unable to take the next step.
She'd been hiding forever, it felt like. As lonely as it had been, crying tears that wouldn't come, and dreaming so that even happy dreams turned bitter, it seemed impossible she could just go and be around people.
Glancing up from the cobblestones before her, she saw Jack had returned, holding out an elegant pale hand. The posture and smile quietly invited her to take it.
Slowly, a copper hand tinted with green wrapped around the phalanges, and a needle leg stepped onto the stones with a click.
X X X
It really was a town of Halloween, Coraline admitted. Signs advertised finest Jack-o'-Lanterns, food befitting a haunted house, oddities of horror declared go be handcrafted, etc. And the people… well, they were not quite people in the traditional sense.
They were… well, spooky and monstrous. Like the Halloween costume aisles had come to life. From a creepy fat kid, to classic vampires she half expected to go blah, to mummies, monster clown on a unicycle, and other classic monsters. Wolf man spotted there, on it went.
'This should be scary,' Coraline thought as a crowd started to trail after the two of them, through twisting streets, up the hill that the town was perched on. But it wasn't. She felt a bit uneasy for sure, and some were disgusting and just gross, but even as she drew closer to Jack, the fear she should have had wasn't showing itself.
Why was that?
But the answer seemed to come for the thinking. The lack of menace. From what she could see, the spooky townspeople had been working or lounging before seeing Jack and forming this crowd. Even now, they called out greetings or questions to the so-called Pumpkin King, seemingly having not even noticed her. Freaky as they looked, there didn't seem to be any harm to them.
Not like the Other World. Yes, she'd probably be scared if not for that, she decided. From the early unease to the cool inescapable terror, the loneliness of her parents being gone, and all the way to her fight with the Beldam and her hand. And then the horror of her body coming apart and facing a lifetime alone in the woods.
Yeah, wolf man and old school vampires might be trouble, but she couldn't share her terror with them, as things far more scary had already made their way into her thoughts.
"NEW ARRIVAL?!" a banshee shrieked, pointing down at Coraline.
Literally everyone but Jack turned their attention to Coraline in that moment.
'Okay, this is a bit intimidating,' she admitted, freezing in the spot, one needle leg still raised.
X X X
Jack, for his part, put a palm to his face. He had underestimated the speed at which a crowd would form. Since the Black Cat showed up, he had by necessity been neglecting things around town, and it seemed quite a bit had built up demanding his attention. He'd wanted a casual walk to introduce her, not a carnival of chaos.
Having reached Guillotine Square, Jack noted they were close enough to the fountain, him taking a long step to perch on its rim. Adding to his usual regal height, it drew most of the attention back to him.
"My fellow people of Halloween, allow me to introduce, Coraline!" Jack declared grandly, gesturing to the copper-framed spider girl.
"Uh, hi?" Coraline said. She did not seem to appreciate Jack stepping away from her, leaving her standing with three sides of the crowd mere steps away. But she managed a half-hearted wave to the bizarre residents.
The mayor, who had been pestering Jack the most with a stack of papers that seemed to urgently need his approval, waddled up to Jack again.
"Did you make her, Jack? Did the realm? Or someone else? Shall we go ahead with the new arrival song?!" the mayor asked, flipping back and forth between pink happy face and sad pale face.
"No, no, and technically yes. And no, she is not a new arrival but rather a temporary guest!" the Pumpkin King answered, raising his voice to carry. The crowd slumped at the last, having already begun to set up for the musical number.
"But we don't have a temporary guest song!" the mayor lamented.
"Best get on that then, don't you think?" Jack asked. Much of the crowd seized on that and made off to plan a new song for a lacking they had not noticed; being caught with your pants down like this was not acceptable to this proud town of performance. Jack nodded, pleased at having broken up the crowd so effectively.
The Doctor and his wife had not joined the exodus, but did not approach the fountain, Mrs. Dr. waving a greeting while the scientist himself adjusted his goggles, studying Coraline as he was pushed closer.
"Young Jack, this is the girl then?" the mad scientist asked.
"Yes."
"Hmm, I see not a copy of the Beldam but a successor in her own right. Hmm, very interesting, warrants study. But best you be on your way, lad — my Sally has been waiting for your return and waiting even longer for the proper attention, hehehehe," the Doctor cackled.
As the couple left, Jack straightened his tie and looked to Coraline, who gave a deep sigh and wiped away nonexistent sweat from her brow, making a slight screech of metal on metal.
"Well, that went a bit off the rails. They can be rather excitable about new things. And we don't get many new people. In fact, aside from Boogie, the children are the only new arrival in the years since the Christmas Incident."
"Christmas incident?" Coraline asked. Jack coughed into his fist, glancing away.
"Subject for another time. Let's get you settled before another friendly mob forms, shall we?"
X X X
Jack's house was perched on a hill of its own, behind a stone fence with a tall iron gate that Jack opened for them.
It was elegant but creepy, like a storybook haunted house, looking a tad too tall and thin, with a stone tower protruding from one side, giving it an impression of leaning. Coraline noted the garden wrapping around the front, flowers of dark purple and rust red with thorns of black and white emerging across it.
A spider hung on a rope, and she was surprised to realize it was fake as Jack pulled it. She wouldn't be surprised if the Pumpkin King had a real spider serving to announce his return.
The scream was too shrill to be real to Coraline; really, it would be more of a surprise if these people had a real doorbell, Coraline thought, rolling her button eyes.
'Am I taking all this too well?' she wondered again.
Jack was saying something, so she pulled herself back to the present. Only for the door to swing open, revealing a tall, well-built woman with pale blue skin that was almost white… no, Coraline realized it wasn't skin, but fabric! The big friendly eyes looked real enough as the woman brushed some dark red hair behind an ear, but still Coraline was stunned to realize the woman was a doll.
What was under the cloth, Coraline wondered, before realizing she was gaping.
"Sally, I have returned," Jack declared.
"So, this is Coraline?" Sally said, hands on her hips. Jack lowered the arms he had spread for a hug; clearly he was still a bone to be gnawed, for the moment.
"Indeed she is. Coraline Jones, late of the woods and Pink Palace. We cut through the town, so sight and word of her is already spreading."
"Very nice, Jack. So, Coraline, are you hungry? Do you need a nap? Anything I can get for you after this terrible time you've been having?" Sally said, sweeping past Jack.
Ah, the mother wolf woman emerges, Jack thought with a smile as Sally looked over Coraline. Motherhood suited her, and for every firm foot put down, there was also tenderness. Not that Coraline was the most receptive as he watched. He chalked that up to Beldam's maternal impersonations; how like her, he thought bitterly, to corrupt something as sacred as parenthood.
"Uh, I haven't eaten anything since… well, this," Coraline said, gesturing at her copper frame self. Sally nodded, frowning slightly.
"Yes, you are too thin for a girl your age, but we'll need to see about how to do something about that. No need to worry, my father is a scientist of the maddest sort. Finding out what's good for someone when even they don't know is a skill I picked up from him. But if there's no call for food, I am guessing you'll be wanting a nice bed. You haven't been living as an outcast by choice, after all," Sally said, somehow ushering the girl inside without imposing. Jack could only marvel at her skill as he made his way in.
He breathed in the scents of home. Quite changed from his bachelor days. It wasn't that his tastes had been driven out, but like a good potion, they now mixed with something else to make something more.
And speaking of something more from a mix, the creak of floorboards and oh so subtle jingle of bones heralded the arrival of the children. He guessed their angle of attack but still acted surprised as two small skeletons jump scared him from a section of loose floorboards.
"Oh my!" he shrieked, catching their tackle in a hug that turned into a twirl before setting them back on their feet. As they laughed, a taller but still small skeleton entered with that odd dignity of children determined to be seen as quite grown up already.
"Father, welcome home," Julia Skellington said, curtsying.
"Good to be back, my dear skele-children."
"Is that her?" one of the young ones asked, disengaging from Jack along with his sister. Coraline practically leapt behind Sally as the three young skeletons turned excited eyes to her. Sally stopped any glomping with a cleared throat.
"Indeed, this is the Coraline," Sally said.
"Huh, actually, it's just-" Coraline said. Sally carried on.
"Why don't you introduce yourselves, remember your manners children," Sally demanded.
That did it.
Jack liked to think he had more fun with the children, but Sally had always been able to reel them in much easier. But then, she had from the start known when to expect them, so that when such tiny skeletons showed up one by one on their doorstep to introduce themselves as their children, Sally had everything ready for them.
Maybe it was just a woman's touch, Jack thought as they lined up.
XXX
Coraline watched the skeleton kids introduce themselves.
"I am Julia, the oldest," the tall one said. Her outfit was patterned after her father's clearly, the only real difference beyond size being a pinstriped skirt instead of pants. She also had her mother's hair, though worn in a braid.
"I'm JJ! That's for Jack Junior, but no one calls me that," the only boy of the trio said, giving a wave and smile. He wore a paper boy cap of dark blue on his head, and a white shirt with suspenders holding up dark pants that matched his hat.
"Unless he's in trouble. Then it's all 'Junior!'" the last and smallest skeleton giggled, clutching a plush werewolf. Her outfit was the brightest in the family, with a bright yellow dress and her bob cut dark red hair hosting a bow of the same color.
"And I'm Sarah by the way! The cute one," the little girl skeleton finished.
"We are pleased to meet you, The Coraline," they said in unison.
"Uh, nice to meet you too. Uh, very… spooky house you've got here," Coraline said, glancing about. Yeah, the parlor definitely had that cobwebbed classy look you'd expect from a haunted house. Though around here, she guessed haunted was just another term for occupied.
"Now that's enough of greeting, for our guest has been through a lot," Sally said, steering Coraline past the children to a creaky-looking staircase, "We can get to know each other after she's had a good rest in a proper bed."
"Quite right Sally, spooky dreams Coraline," Jack called as Coraline was guided upstairs. She saw no need to resist, and it wasn't like she was being shoved; the doll woman's grip was light, and Coraline was pretty sure if she stopped there would not be any pushing. Still, it felt, nice?
Every since her body crumbled, she hadn't really touched anyone or been touched. Wybie had come to see her, but she had done her best to drive him off. Angry moments didn't count, to her mind. Really, Jack taking her hand earlier had been the first, but she'd been too focused on him being a giant skeleton man.
She idly noted framed portraits of the family on the hallway walls, before reaching a door Sally opened for her. It was a bedroom, unusually well dusted for the place, but still decked out in grays and blacks, with the canopy four poster bed reminding her a bit of a dark chocolate bar.
"Will this do for now?" Sally asked. Coraline nodded and stepped inside, making her way over to the bed and gingerly lifting the blanket, careful not to force it, only to think better of it and just climbed on top of the thing and sat down.
"Just ring the bell rope if you need anything. Sweet dreams, I'm certain you're overdue for them."
"Wait!"
Sally stopped in the midst of closing the door, and looked to her with concern but no alarm.
"Can this really, be a thing now? I mean, nothing's been right really since Beldam died. It was all leading up to the bad, then it got worse. So how can things be…"
"Better? Well, I'm not one for big questions, but seasons do change, dear. Perhaps you simply held on long enough for that terrible season to pass. But I can tell you that even if where you started had no idea what to do with you, here most everyone is just eager to help you in different ways. Honestly, some won't be that helpful at all, but not for want of trying. So please just try and let us help, okay? But first, tired girls need their sleep."
Sally didn't close the door right away, giving time for Coraline to object if she didn't want to be alone. When she didn't speak up, the door closed with a click, leaving Coraline with only the light from the window. Laying herself out on the bed, Coraline was surprised it could feel so soft on her metal body. And before she knew it, sleep had taken her deep into its realm.
X X X
Coraline woke up. She didn't recall dreaming, and blinked in confusion at the black blanket she was curled up on. Lifting her upper body as her legs unfolded, she looked around the somewhat dusty dark colored bedroom, dusting herself off by reflex.
'Dust? How long was I sleeping?' Coraline thought as she remembered Jack, the town, and all this strangely not freaking out strangeness.
Getting to her feet, she saw a hazy day giving way to a foggy night as the sun set. And it turned out the sun here had the shape of a smiling classic Jack O'Lantern, because why not?
"Well, guess breakfast is out," Coraline chuckled, before remembering she wasn't eating these days. That brought a groan, recalling all the tasty food she could no longer sink her nonexistent teeth into. Which was so unfair — the Beldam had a mouth!
'Wait, I do not want to be like her!' she snapped at herself, giving a shake that made her copper pieces groan a little.
Ignoring the bell rope, she opened the door and peered out.
"Going down I guess," Coraline shrugged, moving into the empty hallway.
A dog barking made her jump into the air, and things got weird.
The hallway had turned, then judging by the filthy set of threads that passed for her hair hanging down, Coraline realized she was standing on the wall. And if that weren't enough, a sheet ghost that was also a dog barked again as it floated up to her. Its red nose shining like a Halloween Rudolf, it gave a dog smile and licked her in the face.
"Okay, fine. But just so you know, I'm more of a cat person," Coraline told the panting poltergeist.
Making a hurt whimpering noise, the dog looked downcast, and she noticed its nose was actually a tiny Jack-o'-Lantern. Coraline, despite a bit of guilt, decided to ignore it for now and carefully and gracefully step back down onto the floor.
She fell onto it with a clattering clank.
"Arf?"
"Yeah, can't quite do it when I'm trying. Sucks," Coraline said to the dog, not getting up yet.
"Ah good, you're up. Thank you for watching the door, Zero," Sally said, coming up the stairs. The dog barked happily, rushing past Coraline to lick Sally's hand before she pet it.
"Uh, yeah, looks like I missed breakfast, eh? Not that I can eat," Coraline attempted a chuckle.
"Well, there's still leftovers from breakfast, and I have an idea I want to try out for your eating. We're quite lucky, actually; the children are off to their lessons right now, so I can give you my undivided attention," Sally said, giving a nod as she looked Coraline over.
"Where's Jack?" Coraline asked. She was still miffed at the man, er skeleton, who had let Beldam cause so much harm by negligence, but he was still her last link home. Him being gone was starting to give this a certain feeling of finality.
"Oh, he's in the tower. Jack is the Pumpkin King, you need to understand, and has plenty of duties and projects on his plates. He's usually a magician in balancing all that and family, but your case has been taking up all his time. So now that he's back, I decided it was time for me to take over things for a bit while he catches up on everything that's nested in his inbox," the dollwoman explained. Coraline couldn't not notice the admiration and fondness Jack was complimented with. And it made her feel a bit guilty for nursing this grudge; she was rather crashing into their monster lives herself. But only a bit. This was someone's fault, and while mostly the Beldam's, Jack was the one still around to blame.
"So, while I'd like to show you around town now that you got a good three days rest, I am thinking you'd like to see about getting a bit back to normal in the meantime."
"When 'you' say normal- wait, I slept for three days?!"
"You must have been quite tuckered," Sally said, going back down the stairs, Zero at her heels.
X X X
The Skellington kitchen was very old timey to Coraline, but certainly cleaner than the rest of the house. Though one could not quite ignore the jars and visible boxes and such displaying or labelled for products that to her mind had no place in the kitchen.
Sally pulled a chair over to the kitchen table, a thick large thing clearly as much of a workspace as an eating area, and invited Coraline to sit. The transformed girl regarded the chair with some morbid curiosity; it was oddly shaped, with the seat too long and hardly any back to it.
"Oh," Coraline said, settling onto the chair and realizing the length and back fit her current shape quite well, actually. She was then distracted by Zero getting too close trying to sniff her some more. Unnoticed by her as she tried to shoo the friendly ghost, Sally gave a smile watching Coraline wiggle into the most comfy position she could despite Zero. It was nothing major, just a piece of furniture made such that it could fit someone of her body type.
Opening a drawer, Sally withdrew a paper bag not unlike what she used to pack lunch for her children. But it was not lunch but a piece of clothwork she pulled out, with two cloth straps dangling from the rectangle.
She held it up so Coraline could see. It had a mouth pattern stitched on it, and its color matched her skin from… before.
"Would you mind putting this mask on, dear? I want to try something."
Coraline thought the mask was a bit creepy, but well, everything here was to some degree, so she took the offered mask and tied the strap to put it over where her mouth should be.
"Now what?" Coraline asked. And stopped. She'd gotten used to not having a mouth, sad as that was to admit. To have her voice just emit from her lower face with her wondering if it really did have a metallic clink.
Bur this time she felt lips move.
Her hand went to the mask, and found not just upraised stitch lips open and soft, but a metal finger tapped pointy teeth and a tongue that was fuzzy and almost moist.
"Delightful!" Sally said, clapping her hands and giving a happy little laugh.
The stunned Coraline made to ask a question, but found a tall cup thrust in front of her, filled near to the brim with
"Thirsty?" Mrs Skellington asked. Coraline took the cup in her copper hands; it felt strange, not the cup so much as her holding it. It struck her again how it was only hours ago she had been in her nest, seeing nothing but more of lonely misery as a monster hiding in the woods for the rest of her life. Standing in a kitchen holding a drink of water? That seemed almost more absurd and crazy than this town and the woman who had given it to her.
For a single yet lengthy moment, she was certain she would wake up before getting to taste the water as she tipped the glass carefully on her new bottom lips.
She did not wake up, and ended up slowly chugging the whole thing down. Only realizing when she gave a small satisfied sigh she had forgotten to breathe while doing it. She had gotten out of the habit, she supposed numbly.
"Better?" Sally asked, offering her hand to take the glass back.
"Uh, yeah, actually," Coraline admitted, flexing some of her joints slightly. It was small and creeping, but it seemed aches and soreness she hadn't noticed were receding just a bit with the drink. The idea of feeling good was a bit scary in and of itself after all this time.
Frowning, Coraline gave the cup back and slipped her fingers under the mask. She didn't find lips or teeth straining against anything, much less the fuzzy tongue. Her other hand ran over the front of the mask and it seemed to just be cloth and stitches.
Putting it back, she opened the mouth and stuck out a fuzzy damp tongue of dark yellow color and tapped its tip with her finger.
"…Huh," Coraline garbled, before pulling tongue back in and slumping on the chair. Sally just nodded and reached out to pat a hand Coraline had left on the table.
"Don't try and apply the reasoning of rigid lands to this, dear. These are more flexible environments you find yourself in. And presently, you are better suited at least in body to this strain of existing."
"You sure are smart," Coraline said without thinking much.
"Well, my father is a genius scientist; even if I'm not one for the lab myself, I like to think I inherited some of his smarts pointed in a different direction. Speaking of which, he would like to examine you. You are quite unique, even in his experience, and he likes to try and figure out how people work regardless when they come to Town the first time. I won't lie, his findings often fail to satisfy even him, but there's a chance it could help Jack a bit in his search for a way to help you."
"Uh, is he that mad scientist guy I saw earlier? With a lady that looks like him pushing him around?" Coraline asked.
"The maddest of them all," Sally remarked with a bit of pride.
Coraline stared at her hands a moment. Getting taken by the government or something to be taken apart and studied had not been one of her bigger fears, but well, she had gotten a bit more menace from the doctor than anyone else.
"I know you've been dragged around quite a bit by events, it's okay to say no, Coraline," Sally assured her.
"Right, maybe no doctor for now?"
"No doctor for now. But I do have something else in mind that might help you feel better for now. And a bit of an explanation why that mask worked."
"Yeah, that really doesn't seem to make sense, it's there and then gone?"
"Well, I'm stuffed mostly with autumn leaves and I can still move about, talk, eat, and all the other things a woman could want to do. And I have been reading up on the Beldam while Jack has been doing his best for you. Beyond her powers and station, she was a living doll, which I am now certain makes you one as well. While a doll can make do incomplete once it comes to life, just like I can still live torn apart or unstuffed, it's not pleasant. The Beldam completed herself with porcelain, and it seems you inherited a bit of that," Sally said, gesturing to Coraline's porcelain scalp, where her rats nest of thread hair clung on.
"I kind of expected it to flake off," Coraline admitted.
"Well, it hasn't yet. But more importantly, I think just like you may not need to eat and drink but it will make you feel better, getting a bit more dolly might make you feel better in the meantime."
"No," Coraline snapped, the image of herself as a pale skinny cracking porcelain spider woman like the Beldam looming over someone. She shivered and actually shoot her head. Sally watched with concern as Coraline's claws cut thin yet deep marks in the table as they balled into fists.
"No porcelain, please not that," Coraline shuddered.
Sally blinked, then frowned and sighed.
"Oh dear, I worded that terribly, didn't I? I never thought of suggesting you try and look like that horrible creature, Coraline. There are many kinds of doll. Personally, I was thinking something plush, far removed from the hard and brittle. Something I could make myself, just for you to try. And if you didn't like it, you could take it of as easily as that mask. Promise," Sally said crossing her heart and hoping to die deader.
"Plush?" Coraline muttered. On the one hand, her still racing supposed heart deemed it to close to Beldam concealing her true nature. But on the other, she really hated the sight of her metal body; it felt like she was bare to the world too.
'Well, I suppose I am naked, technically,' she thought, feeling too tired all of a sudden to be outraged over that old annoyance.
"Just think about it, alright? Now, there's a lovely tea shop on the other side of town, which does serve human tea, I checked. If you like, we can take the roundabout way and let you take in a bit more of the town. No crowds, I won't let them," Sally assured.
Having drunk the water, she felt it had settled into her stomach. Which was making its presence known somehow in her gutless frame.
"Eh, any cookies or something there?" Coraline asked.
X X X
Jack watched them go out the gate from his window in the tower study. On the one hand, he was glad she was leaving the house; Sally was amazing like that. But he couldn't wipe away the frown on his pale face.
Stalking back to his desk, he set aside a thick, but not near as thick as it had been, pile of paper and folders to drag a thick book front and center. The Pumpkin King opened the book to a page marked with a black piece of cloth, and Cat sauntered in to sit on the page.
Jack's deep dark eye sockets met the Black Cat's too innocent blue eyes with slits that could conceal all manner of secrets in their own darkness.
"I'm quite sure there are matters that still need our attention," the elder of the realm said, his tail flicking to the pile of work papers.
"I have made progress. I need to get back to research on helping young Miss Jones," Jack said, hiding his annoyance.
"Your dear lady is helping her now, and I think already showing herself better suited to the task than you. But she is not the Pumpkin King, you are."
"Come now, teacher. You were the one pressing the hardest for me to fix this mess before all else," Jack objected, getting to his feet. The cat reacted to his imposing height by licking his left paw for a moment before oddly glancing to the ruler of the realm.
"Quite. And while I'd rate your timing and performance passable if not competent, it is done and I am somewhat satisfied you will be less negligent in the future. But it seems now it might be better for you to shift the primary burden to other shoulders and instead assist in the matter of young Coraline rather than drive it. Or should I say, 'the Coraline'?" Black Cat said with what might have been a grin.
"That was a mistake. She's a cursed human, not a proper replacement for the Beldam. I have to fix this," Jack said as he started to pace, looking over the book that he had already examined.
"This may be less a disease to be cured, and more a change that however regrettable should be learned to live and live well with," Cat said, settling down to sit more soundly.
"You're giving up?" Jack demanded.
"Not quite. By all means, keep looking for now, Jack. I have been surprised before. But not that often. That girl is looking to you for hope, even if she doesn't realize it yet."
"All the more reason not to give up so quickly," Jack asserted.
"Hope is a lovely thing, Jack, but it's not as simple as not giving up. Don't encourage her to cling to false hope when there's a very real hope of a life she did not expect. But what do I know? I am only a Cat in the end; your choices and her life are not mine to decide. Now if you will excuse me, my whiskers seem to be tingling, which means the fish market may be understaffed at the moment."
And with that, Black Cat left, slipping between one blink and another.
Jack frowned, hand on his chin. He wasn't sure what his teacher really wanted from him. It wasn't unlike that one to make the lesson itself a puzzle before you even knew what he wanted you to learn. Truthfully, he had not missed the smug elder that much if at all, he thought in his frustration.
It was true he felt he had made no progress on returning Coraline to human form, but he had no idea of the moonstone's existence prior to this affair, and now it was snuggly stored in a locked box in his desk drawer.
But, there was also the matter of time, he admitted. Just as Halloween waited for no one, how long would be too long for any cure to be too late for Coraline to return to her life. Even such as him could feel dread, and he felt it running a race with a time limit of what he knew not with the goal not only out of sight but no certainty of direction.
Returning to the desk, Jack resumed studying. Cat could keep his riddles today; even if he hoped it was temporary, Coraline Jones was presently one of his subjects, and he would do everything he could to set this right while being a diligent Pumpkin King.
Hmm, spotting a crimson Christmas ornament gathering dust on a shelf, he wondered if later she might be interested in a trip to Christmas Town? If nothing else, Santa Claws would likely be able to lift her spirits in ways Halloween Town could not.
Filing that away for later, Jack turned to a page displaying a chart of how some gargoyles turned from stone to living flesh as simple as the sun rising and setting.
Author's Note:
Happy Halloween!
I had hoped for a double feature for the Holiday, but it just didn't work out. Hope this update of "The Price" still makes a good treat in your goody bag.
Sally in particular was interesting to write here; and I hope I did well with the children. The children being skeletons actually comes from a CD with Santa Claus having visited the Halloween realm years later and remarking Sally and Jack have skeleton kids. The idea of them just showing up as little kids that the parents "were expecting" I owe to my best friend, who asked me if that might be how it works with such a whimsical setting. Not my original idea, but I loved it so much I had to go with it!
Still its my hope to break this little tradition by updating before next Halloween. Coraline is in Jack's world now, which means lots of fun can be had exploring and interacting with it. The angst will not just vanish but it is now mixed with the wonder and humor of the new setting she finds herself in.
As such is there anything you as readers would like to see happen as Coraline is introduced to this world of spookiness and thrills? No guarantee it will make it in, I do have plans, but I do want to make good use of the setting and it never hurts to open one's ears to suggestions.
So with that Happy Halloween once more, and I hope to see you soon in the next story update on this site. Long days and pleasant nights to you all.
